Djing and making a mix cd in live ??

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:19 pm

ok is there a quick easy way to do this ??

this is just for my personal mp3 player and in for car stereo,

but of course i dont want to hear any nasty clashing of beats, i just want to creat a mix of old dance tracks,

but wont it take hours getting all warped up and ready to mix????

sorry never used live in this way

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:29 pm

would it be a good idea to line all my classic tracks up in Sony Acid,

get them to the same tempo, like 120 bpm

then they would all mix in live ?? is am i totally wrong here ??

enrgynix · Post by **enrgynix** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:21 am

sure, there is a easier way to do this. create a new audio track. change the monitoring to "in" and then choose the channel that you want to record. you will probably need to choose master. are you using a external soundcard?

-m

ollyb303 · Post by **ollyb303** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:48 am

Don't bother with Acid. Just warp them in Live. Warping will take you a while the first few times, but when you've done a few tracks, you'll be able to breeze through them and it's well worth learning the skill.

VINKALMANN's guide to warping will get you started:

http://www.vinkalmann.com/VINKALMANN_Warping_Guide.pdf

The fact that you want to mix dance music makes it much easier.

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:50 am

oh wow got some horrible results, the music sounds all stretched and un natrual unlike when you dj normally ????

cant make a cd like that, the piano and rhodes sound terrible, the vocals sound really stressed, thought Live was good for DJ use ??

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 8:06 pm

leighbeynon wrote:oh wow got some horrible results, the music sounds all stretched and un natrual unlike when you dj normally ????

cant make a cd like that, the piano and rhodes sound terrible, the vocals sound really stressed, thought Live was good for DJ use ??

the problem is not live. the problem is more like that you are not doing it correctly. sorry.

the music would only sound stretchy if you are not warping correctly.

here is my guide to warping as well. maybe a couple different ways of explaining will help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DJ Shiva's Super Duper Slacker's Guide to Easy Warping in Ableton (that was a tad sarcastic).

set your tap tempo to a key. listen (without warping) and use tap tempo to find the tempo (there is a reason for this, trust me).

then in the clip properties, click "warp". MOST of the time, autowarp gets the approximate tempo right, it just doesn't set the first marker correctly. if it doesn't get the tempo right and sets up a trillion warp markers, click on one, select all, and delete them. then enter the approximate tempo you found in the Seg. BPM box.

now, once the tempo is close to correct, place the first warp marker on the first beat you want to warp from. sometimes you can place it at the beginning of an intro, sometimes it may be simpler just to find the first real beat of the song. turn on your metronome. this is a simple way to make sure your track is lined up with the correct tempo.

most electronic music is sequenced, which makes it easier. i usually go to the 17 mark and check to make sure things are in sync. if they are, continue to the 33rd. if things are still synced, they will prolly stay that way. to make a warp marker, double click on the number and that will make a warp marker. if you need to move it, click once and drag. do not double click until you have it where you want it, and do not drag if you have already made a marker. you can do this at varying points throughout the song, depending on how in sync it already is. you can click and move your mouse while on the wave to zoom in and out for more precision as well.

what you are looking for are the transients at the beginning of beats. use your eyes and your ears and eventually you will be able to do this in your sleep. it takes me about 30 secs to a minute to warp a tune, depending on the complexity.

i generally make warp markers at the beginning of phrases, like when the bass first drops, when there is a beatless break, when the beat breaks down for the outro. i use them as visual reminders, as well as telling ableton how to play.

if you have a tune that is NOT sequenced by a computer (live music, bands, etc.), you will need to make many more warp markers. use your ears. the great thing about this is that you can use ableton and warp markers to play tunes together that you never in a million years would have been able to work together on the decks.

and most importantly, when you are done warping each tune, click on "save" in the clip properties box in the "sample" section. if you do not do this, you will lose all of your work when you pull up the tune. if you transfer your tunes to another computer or folder, take both the tune AND the corresponding .asd file.

typically, you want to use repitch mode instead of beats (beats mode can leave some ugly transient wibble on a steady bassline), unless this would drastically alter the pitch (say it's a 130 bpm tune with a vocal, we don't want any chipmunk action here). then complex warp comes into play.

be forewarned, complex mode will not only use more processor to play, but will also alter the sound a bit (deadens the highs and undermines the lows just a smidge). there are some methods you can use (involving bbe sonic maximizer and PSP vintage warmer) to fix that that you can find at http://www.abletonlivedj.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6262.

this is the super fast version of the explanation. check youtube for some great video tutorials and also go to www.ableton.com and get into the forums. tons of great info there. www.abletonlivedj.com is another fantastic source.

i hope this helps, and if you need any clarification, holla.

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:04 am

ok thanks ill try this again, maybe re-pitch is going to be more useful than beats for warping,

ill give this a go,
thanks leigh

mesaboogiewes · Post by **mesaboogiewes** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:42 pm

Another thing to remember: You need to check the original BPM of your tracks - you can't make everything go at 120 BPMs and expect it to sound good...

Atomikat · Post by **Atomikat** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:09 pm

I also check the same markers as DjShiva and the warping takes me like 20-35 seconds per track.I use the complex mode that sounds to me better than the others.

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:08 pm

i realise that not all tracks will sound the same in different tempo's but if my range is 125 - 130 shouldnt be too noticable, is really isnt on vinyl or cd decks,

the rhodes and vocals shouldnt sound stretched and stressed, you would think it would be easier on a pc based software than cd decks

ollyb303 · Post by **ollyb303** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:36 pm

leighbeynon wrote:i realise that not all tracks will sound the same in different tempo's but if my range is 125 - 130 shouldnt be too noticable, is really isnt on vinyl or cd decks,

the rhodes and vocals shouldnt sound stretched and stressed, you would think it would be easier on a pc based software than cd decks

I'm gonna say that if it sounds terrible, then you're still not doing it right.

vinkalmann · Post by **vinkalmann** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:50 pm

leighbeynon wrote:i realise that not all tracks will sound the same in different tempo's but if my range is 125 - 130 shouldnt be too noticable, is really isnt on vinyl or cd decks,

the rhodes and vocals shouldnt sound stretched and stressed, you would think it would be easier on a pc based software than cd decks

I would guess you are warping using "Beats" mode. Like was said Beats mode makes vocals and songs with sustained sounds (ie synths) sound terrible. Switch to "Complex" mode and you'll be happy. Once you have all this down, play around with the other warp modes. 99% of people are using Complex or Re-Pitch when playing finished tracks. When you're using small samples the same logic doesn't necessarily apply.

It was posted above(thanks!) but take a look at my guide at www.vinkalmann.com, all this is covered and will save you a lot of headaches.

I've also got a guide on there for mixing in arrangement view which is what you're doing I think.

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:14 am

well yeah i was using beats your right, so all being well this should sound alot better once i change my mode of warp ??

i know its possible to dj with live, thats why i couldnt understand why it sounded so bad !! i dont mind spending the time to warp tracks so long as they sound natural in the mix and the finished mix is fairly good

thanks for all advice ! Happy new year !

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:14 am

well yeah i was using beats your right, so all being well this should sound alot better once i change my mode of warp ??

i know its possible to dj with live, thats why i couldnt understand why it sounded so bad !! i dont mind spending the time to warp tracks so long as they sound natural in the mix and the finished mix is fairly good

thanks for all advice ! Happy new year !

leighbeynon · Post by **leighbeynon** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:11 am

ok the re-pitch did help alot, i got a few tracks working,
although some that worked i tried to mix back into other tracks and then the orginal track that mixed fine didnt work at all, it wasnt even comin in on the kick drum ????

but before it was fine ??
im starting to think another programme would be better,

i think the first warp maker would be the most important, but alot of them look very different, its hard to see exactly where the marker should be,
on the incline of the wave form ??